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New Lunchables Combinations Giveaway

October 9, 2010 By 483 Comments

I’ve always been a big fan of Lunchables, I’ll eat the crackers with the meat and I usually leave the cheese behind because it is so high in calories. That is the one drawback of most of the packages of Lunchables that are out there. However, they have lots of new options compared to when I was a kid. They are now considered to be more wholesome. They contain DOLE® Mandarin Oranges, 100% white meat chicken and bread made with 8g of whole grains. I’m not saying they are the most healthiest things out there to eat and we won’t be getting them all the time but for a quick pinch they are great. The calories are quite representative of the food in them. You feel like you are getting more food than the smaller Lunchables contain for about the same amount of calories. We were sent three of the New Lunchables Combinations to test out and try.

Chicken + American Sub Sandwich

 

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Turkey made with 100% turkey breast, Kraft 2% Cheddar and bread made with whole grain, these tasty subs come with Tree Top® Applesauce, Mini Nilla Wafers, spring water and Tropical Punch Kool-Aid Singles.

Chicken Strips with DOLE® Oranges

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Every shred of this 100% white meat chicken is good enough to share. Plus, it comes with a full serving of mandarin oranges in 100% fruit juices. This lunch is a good source of protein, iron and an excellent source of Vitamin C.

Deep Dish Cheese Pizza with DOLE® Oranges

deepDishCheesePizza

 

You won’t have to dig deep for our Deep Dish Pizza, made with Kraft 2% Mozzarella and 2% Cheddar, deep dish crust made with whole grain, Tombstone Pizza Sauce, Tree Top® Applesauce, Mini Nilla Wafers, spring water and Tropical Punch Kool-Aid Singles.

So far, I’ve eaten the chicken strips and I liked them. I had to heat them up and it was easy enough to do, I was telling my husband that I didn’t think that I would like to have them cold but he said kids would. He would. So pack it up for the kids for school or eat it at home with a microwave on hand like I do.

Enter To Win:

5 Free Product Coupons

To Enter:

Leave a comment on this post tell me what you like to have for lunch.

Extra Entries:

Tweet or RT this post and include the link to the post

Follow/Like Mom Start on Facebook
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This giveaway ends October 25th, I was provided a sample in exchange for this post! All rules can be found under giveaway rules.

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He’s Your Dog Charlie Brown

October 9, 2010 By 3 Comments

1000116765DVDFLTI grew up watching Charlie Brown. He was always on during one of the many holidays and sometimes I could find him on Saturday on one of many of the cable channels. I just remember being a kid when I think of Charlie Brown. Now Snoopy is a favorite of twice as many people that like Charlie Brown. My husband used to have a huge Snoopy collection but over the years we have downsized it quite a bit. Or I have I guess I Charlie Brownshould say. In He’s Your Dog Charlie Brown, Snoopy and his regular antics starting driving everyone more crazy than usual. So Charlie Brown decides to send him off to camp.  Here is the full description:

Synopsis: A beagle is a boy’s best friend. Sometimes. The gang is fed up with mischief-maker Snoopy so Charlie Brown sends the offending beagle away to puppy boot camp. Equipped with a tiny suitcase and his own doggy dish, Snoopy heads to the Daisy Hill Puppy Farm but never makes it past his first stop at Peppermint Patty’s. Now Snoopy wonders if the grass might be greener with a new master. Can Charlie Brown put an end to the canine chaos and bring Snoopy back to the little red doghouse?  Friendship and loyalty come out on top in He’s Your Dog, Charlie Brown! And you will, too, with this Remastered Deluxe Edition with Improved Picture and Audio.

Good Ole Peppermint Patty defiantly didn’t have the patience needed to deal with Snoopy and I just can’t see Snoopy staying too long with any other master other than Charlie Brown anyways. . As I said above it’s always fun to reminisce with an old episode of Charlie Brown.

Peppermint Patty

Warner Brothers sent us a copy of He’s Your Dog Charlie Brown free of charge to use for this post!

Filed Under: Movie review, review Tagged With: , , , ,

What are you doing on 10-10-10

October 8, 2010 By 1 Comment

What are you going to be doing on 10-10-10?

I’m going to be going to church and then shopping. I received a coupon and a gift certificate to use at 6pm.com. Now all I have to do is to remember to go shopping. I’ve been trying to think of what I should get with my gift card. 6pm.com usually has merchandise for a regular 75 % off, on 10-10-10 there will be an even larger reason to shop. More Savings on top of the 75 percent off. Now all I have to do is decide on what I want and act fast. I’m thinking I need a new pair of boots. We’ll see what comes on sale on that day.

Top 10 Reasons to shop 6pm.com on 10.10.10:

#10: The $30 Jessica Simpson cable knit gloves you contributed to the office holiday gift swap will be the “it” gift to get — and you only paid $10 for them – shhh.

#9: You don’t have to look like Bo Derek in a bathing suit to feel like a perfect 10! Feel even sexier in this Blue Image bikini for only $10.

#8: After shopping at 6pm.com on 10.10.10, your future will be so bright; you’ll have to wear shades!

#7  You’ll giggle with glee every time you put on the $196 Radcliff Kensington jeans that only cost $10

#6 A hot UPS man delivery man will deliver your purchases with a smile :)

#5 A Docker’s shirt will cost you less than lunch.

#4 You’ll feel like a million bucks in the $100 Vaneli heels you got for only $10!

#3: It’s easy! It’s fun! You’ll save a ton!

#2: Bragging rights, baby! In fact, 6pm.com encourages you to brag to at least 10 friends about the steals you got on 10.10.10 for only $10!

And the number one reason to shop 6pm.com on 10.10.10 …

#1: Guilt free shopping people! What more do you need!?

Follow @6pm on Twitter and Facebook and share with us the reasons why you’ll shop at 6pm.com on 10.10.10.

 

I was provided with a gift card in exchange for this post.

Filed Under: savings Tagged With: , , , ,

The Troubles of that Pesky Ketchup Carbohydrate Stains and Wisk

October 8, 2010 By 10 Comments

I’ve been writing about Wisk for a few months now. Last month Zoe and I did a Protein stain test using Wisk. Today Zoe and I set out to find out if Wisk really could demolish Ketchup. I was given the assignment of cleaning a white shirt that had ketchup on it. Now, I think I was supposed to clean it right after getting ketchup on it but I wanted to make a challenge for Wisk. Can Wisk get out set in carbohydrate stains.

IMG_5455Supplies:

Ketchup

White T-shirt

Wisk

Ice Chest

Water

Set up:

I put Ketchup on a white t-shirt and let the stain sit for a few hours.

IMG_5457IMG_5458

Time:IMG_5459IMG_5461

Put Wisk on the shirt IMG_5462

Here is the video of us getting the ketchup out!

Final Results:

There was still just a bit of ketchup on the shirt, it was very very faint but it would be enough to drive me crazy. This is what I think would get the stain out. Before throwing it in the washing machine, pour some Wisk on the stain directly and let it sit for at least five minutes. Then put it in the washing machine as you normally would and I have a feeling the stain would come out. I don’t usually have trouble with ketchup coming out of clothing anymore anyways. My kids are always covered in some kind of food and we get the stains out. SO just follow those instructions and I know you’ll be fine! Stain Spectrum Technology will get out stains in all of the groups.

The Three Groups:

* Carbohydrates such as milk chocolate
* Proteins such as grass
* Oils such as peanut butter

To learn more:

Like Wisk at www.Facebook.com/Wisk

Follow @Wisk on Twitter

I received monetary compensation for my participation, but my review and opinions are my own

Filed Under: review Tagged With: , , , , ,

Giveaway Jingle Link Up Your Giveaways

October 7, 2010 By 10 Comments

Here is this week’s installment.

You’ve got a giveaway, I want to know about it! Oh, and if you list your giveaway on Mom Start facebook page it will tweet on my twitter account. How cool is that?

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Filed Under: linky Tagged With: , ,

Arrrgh Matey! Pirate’s Booty Treasure Chest Giveaway For Halloween

October 7, 2010 By 347 Comments

We have a lot of friends that eat natural and organic foods and if it wasn’t for them I’m not sure I would even know what Pirate’s Booty is. Pirate’s Booty can be found at Costco and I’ve purchased it a few times. We like it, I’ve even found myself snacking on it in the middle of the night. Just in case you do not know what it is I’ll tell you. PB_5bag_lineup_HiRes

Pirate’s Booty is a deliciously baked, all-natural snack made from puffed rice and corn. Except I do not like the Veggie Booty. My kids do, and I’m not going to discourage that, but I think that flavor is not good. Pirate’s Booty is a perfect healthy alternative to candy come trick-or-treat time and that is important to me. I think I’m having a bit of anxiety over the oncoming holiday and if you are too then this giveaway I’m going to have is just for you. The snack is trans-fat, gluten and tree-nut free plus, it’s only 130 calories per serving.  Pirate’s Booty comes in a variety of other flavors including Aged White Cheddar, Sour Cream & Onion, New York Pizza, Barbeque, and Sea Salt & Vinegar. The snacks also come in single serve sizes of 1 oz. and .5 oz. bags.

Thanks to Pirate’s Booty, we’re giving away 3 treasure chests of Pirate Goodies!

Enter to Win: 1 of 3

piratebooty

To Enter:

Tell me who your favorite pirate is (and do not tell me Johnny Depp, because he is not a pirate he did play one though!)

Extra Entries:

Tweet or RT this post and include the link to the post

Follow/Like Mom Start on Facebook
List this giveaway on any giveaway site, dig or stumble
Blog About this Giveaway (linking to the giveaway)
Add my blog button to your sidebar.

This giveaway ends October 25th, All rules can be found under giveaway rules.

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Discovering Beauty & The Beast Diamond Edition with Paige O’Hara

October 7, 2010 By 11 Comments

imageThanks to Click Communications I had the opportunity to discover Beauty and The Beast with Belle herself, Paige O’Hara. Paige is just as spunky as Belle and listening to her sing in real life just amazes me. In fact, I would say she’s improved her singing skills since making the movie Beauty and The Beast. She was quite easy going and down to earth. As we all had dinner and enjoyed great conversation, we explored the Beauty and the Beast Diamond Edition Blu-Ray special features! And Let me tell you Beauty and the Beast Diamond Edition is all about the Blu-Ray features.

You know the story of Beauty and the Beast right? Belle is a beautiful young lady stuck in a small provincial town and practically bored to tears. The most adventure she has at any given time comes from her unpredictable inventor of a father. She is coveted by Gaston, and disguts him in return. Her father goes off to the fair and gets lost on his way. He looks for shelter in the castle that he finds but the Beast is not happy at all to have company. He locks him in the dungeon and when Belle comes looking for her father, her adventure begins.

clip_image001[5]Paige was interviewed and here are a few questions and answers:

How excited were you to be part of such a legendary Disney title?

You know, Mary Poppins is my favorite film and I loved Bambi and all the other Disney animated films. I was always an artist as well so I appreciated the animation too. Playing Belle was a dream come true.

What else do you remember about the experience?

It was fun being a part of the parties. Honestly, the worst part about the Oscars was that I didn’t like my dress—the one I performed in. They told the designer to put me in blue and it was this blue and white dress that looked more like Bo Peep or Dorothy. It was way too frilly and not very “Belle-y.” It was a checkerboard pattern. I had to perform in that dress, but afterwards I got to change into a beautiful Bob Mackie teal green gown. I even made one magazine’s Top 3 Best Dressed list!

You won a Grammy for a song from “Beauty and the Beast’s Children Singalong” too. What was that like?

It was incredible. Of course it won Best Children’s Album, which is the Grammy I have on my wall. The whole ride has been phenomenal. I am still recording as Belle all the time…CD ROMs and toys. I was just in the studio recording Belle the other day. 99% of the time I record in a studio here in Vegas. They patch me in over the phone.

imageZoe has quite a hard time deciding between watching this new Princess and Tinker Bell and The Great Fairy Rescue. She likes Belle, Belle was the very first Princess dress that we found on sale and that was her first Halloween costume. Zoe said she likes Beauty and The Beast more than The Princess and The Frog because it wasn’t scary. She likes the Beast as a Beast and not when he turns into a Prince.  Even though she enjoys watching Belle in Beauty in the Beast, her favorite princess is still Sleeping Beauty and we don’t even have a copy of that movie.

To me, Beauty and The Beast Diamond Edition blows my mind away. The color looks like it was pumped up and the details are quite amazing. It seems that cartoons were meant for Blu-Ray. The special features are quite amazing too, even though all of the insert disc one, insert disc two is a little frustrating. The way our system is set up whenever I try to go back it exits the DVD all together, but that’s just our system. I think if you have a normal DVD player it’s probably not as bad. Most of the special features are on disc 2.

The Special Features are hours and hours of content. One of the features, I think it was Beyond Beauty was the story of the making of Beauty and the Beast. The story included the evolution of the story and one of the previous story lines was pretty bad. We’re very glad Disney went the direction they went. Wow, I just can’t imagine a better story line.

3-Disc BD Bonus Features as listed on Amazon:

• Restored film
• Three versions of the film
• Original theatrical release
• Special extended edition
• Original storyboard version (BD-exclusive)
• Original theatrical version with a PIP of the storyboard
• Disney sing along mode
• Audio commentary
• Beyond Beauty: The Untold Stories Behind Making Beauty And The Beast (interactive) 
• Broadway Beginnings – Up close and personal celebrity interviews with Nick Jonas, Donny Osmond, Toni Braxton, and others who have starred in the Broadway production
• Composing a Classic: A Musical Conversation With Alan Menken, Don Hahn, and Richard Kraft
• Deleted scenes
o Alternate opening (boards)
o Belle in the library – never-before-seen moment where Belle meets three new characters in the library
• Art galleries – Only available inside the “Beyond Beauty Experience”
• Family play games
o Enchanted Challenge: help Belle and the Beast fall in love in order to break the spell before the last petal falls (Disney Quest)
o Bon Jour, Who Is This? A Disney TelePlay Game – Powered by BD-Live. Using your cell phone, guess the identity of the other players before they guess yours 
• Music & more
o All-new music video featuring Disney Channel star TBD
• Classic DVD bonus features

As I said, hours and hours of entertainment!

Save 10.00 on Beauty And the Beast Diamond Edition.

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I received a copy of the movie in exchange for my honest review and met Paige on the Disney Blogger Day Event.

Filed Under: Movie review, review Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

The Grease is gone, Cleaning with Pledge Furniture Cleaner

October 7, 2010 By 8 Comments

IMG_5445Pledge is quite easy to recognize, it’s almost iconic coming in a yellow can, smelling like a lemon. Pledge®.com sent us a can of Pledge® to use in our house and test out on a number of surfaces. The can actually says that it is safe to use on marble, leather, wood furniture, wood cabinets and stainless steal removing 90 percent of allergens in the air.

The Pledge® aerosol (Natural Beauty, Clean & Shine, Dust & Allergen, Protection Plus and Extra Moisturizing) family of formulas can be used to dust, clean, shine and give limited protection to the following surfaces: sealed wood and wood laminates, synthetic wood surfaces (IKEA), stainless steel, leather, sealed marble, sealed granite, vinyl and chrome.  This would include car dashboards (vinyl) and car seats (leather or vinyl).

Pledge is a furniture cleaner and I pushed it to it’s limits trying it on surfaces it wasn’t exactly intended for.

IMG_5436The most exciting thing for me in this review was when I cleaned my counter tops and back splash. I have tile and granite countertops. The tile, is porous and has been absorbing grease from cooking dinner. I’ve been trying to get the grease off with soap and water and it has been failing. I even tried an actual kitchen/grease killer cleaner and to no avail my backsplash still showed grease spots. So, while I was testing Pledge on every surface like I was asked to do, the grease disappeared right before my eyes. Now, I wasn’t sure if it was really clean. I thought perhaps the grease will come back, so before I could wrote this post I had to make sure it was really gone. YEAH, Pledge did get rid of the grease! In the photo it looks a little streaky, but without the flash of light on it, it just looks clean. Even in the flash I think it looks pretty good, I like a nice shiny look.

IMG_5444I also tested it on the stainless steal appliances that we have. They  are now shiny, lemon scented and you can see my reflection in the photo. I have to honestly say that I love cleaning when the cleaner has a nice citrus scent to it; Pledge is lemon scented and to me that equals clean!

The one surface I do not recommend that you use it on is your wood floors. When the can first arrived I was so excited to use and Zoe found a really dirty sticky spot on the wood floor. We just had a painter come in the house and after he left there was a nasty spot on the floor. It looked like paint mixed with dirt and glue, so I sprayed it and it wiped right up. The only problem was that the floor was now quite slippery. We have extra soft hard wood floors that we’re only supposed to use soap and water on so I should not have used the Pledge® on it. You might check on what kind of hard wood you have and it is treated before you use anything other than soap and water on it. Just my FYI.

This is a sponsored review I was paid to use Pledge. I have shared the positives and the negatives of using it in my post as this is my honest opinion.

Filed Under: review Tagged With: , , , , ,

Save Money with Windows 7 Family Pack

October 7, 2010 By 1 Comment

Windows 7 has quite a few package options. I was asking my husband about it last night and he listed quite a few options and after looking at all of them, I know that families can save by purchasing the Family Pack at the Microsoft Store.

The Family Pack was introduced last year as a limited time offer and while supplies last in select geographies. As I was talking to my husband he said he had heard that the Family Pack was coming back and it is. Starting on October 22nd (already out in the US, October 22 for the rest of the world in some markets), you will be able to buy the Windows 7  Family Pack, which allows you to install Windows 7 Home Premium on up to three PCs for $149.99 in the US. That is a huge savings. Retailer prices may vary by geographic location but will still be a great savings. You might want to act quickly as it quickly sold out last year.

All of this is a way for Microsoft to celebrate reaching the one year anniversary of Windows 7 and a way to make it easier for families. That is why they are bringing the offer back. It’s an easy and cost effective way to get an entire household’s PCs running Windows 7. When you run Windows 7 on more than one PC, you can use HomeGroup to quickly connect PCs (just a few clicks) and instantly share files, music, and photos across all the PCs in the family. You can also easily share a printer with all the PCs in your home. We have our entire house networked, all of our computers can see each other and the printer. It’s nice to be able to do everything from one computer. HomeGroup only works with other Windows 7 PCs. It’s not available on Windows Vista or Windows XP. It looks like if you need any help or have questions bloggers are answering questions at the Windows Experience blog.

 

I will be participating in a WIndows 7 test group as Microsoft is sending me a laptop on loan for one year with Windows 7. Of course, I’m already using Windows 7 and have been enjoying all of the benefits for a while now anyways!

Filed Under: savings Tagged With: , , ,

Operation Christmas Child

October 7, 2010 By 3 Comments

IMG_5435Our church passed out boxes on Sunday for everyone to start collecting items for Operation Christmas Child. Zoe at first thought the box was for her, so we quickly explained to her that this is for a child that doesn’t have many if any toys and might be there only Christmas present. Then she was ready to fill it with her own toys. I was very touched at her gesture but told her we were actually going to go shopping together and she could help pick some things out. We told her that we wanted to fill up the boxes with new things and you should have seen how excited she was. I really love teaching both of my children to have a giving heart.

I am not the only one out there as kids and families across America are in a giving mood this fall. Operation Christmas Child will make a huge difference in the lives of more than 8 million needy children this year, including kids in Haiti, where the youngest victims of the earthquake are in desperate need of encouragement and hope.

It all starts with a shoe box and those are easy to find. The whole thing amounts to a  simple gift that has the power to bring hope to struggling children around the world by letting them know they are loved and not forgotten.  For many of these children, this will be the first gift they have ever received. We’ve asked Zoe to try and imagine not every having a toy, and she seems to get the idea. She makes a sad face and puts her hands to her mouth with a gasp. I know as a family we’re excited to be apart of this and I hope you will consider it too!

operationchristmaschildA kids-helping-kids project of international Christian relief and evangelism organization Samaritan’s Purse, headed by Franklin Graham, Operation Christmas Child hand-delivers shoe boxes packed with school supplies, toys, necessity items and often a hand-written note of encouragement. Sometimes if you leave your name and address in the box the children will write you back and thank you! I know Zoe would love that a LOT! 

But kids aren’t the only ones getting involved.  Churches, school groups, scout troops and businesses are also busy collecting and filling shoe box gifts.

Since 1993, Operation Christmas Child has hand-delivered shoe box gifts to more than 77 million hurting children in more than 130 countries.  Staff and volunteers use whatever means necessary—ships, trucks, buses, trains, airplanes, boats, camels, even dog sleds—to reach suffering children. It is an amazing ministry.

Samaritan’s Purse uses tracking technology that allows donors to “follow your box” to the destination country where it will be hand-delivered to a child in need.  To register shoe box gifts and find out their destination country, use the EZ Give donation form found at www.samaritanspurse.org.  To volunteer or learn how to pack and send an Operation Christmas Child shoe box gift, call (800) 353-5949 or visit www.samaritanspurse.org.  National Collection Week for gift-filled shoe boxes is Nov. 15-22; however, shoe box gifts are collected all year at the Samaritan’s Purse headquarters in Boone, N.C.

Filed Under: charity
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